Tools used in paleo times were in all probability:
#1. Simple.
#2. Relatively easy/quick to make.
#3. Utilized abundant materials.
#4. Effective, even if some skill was required.
Now, how do we find them? What would they look like
to use, today, in the archaeological record?
I'd start with the historical record. We find many tools
(weapons) that appear quite primitive, and are certainly
well within the means of pre moderns, extending into
the present!
Hello? Throwing sticks?
So what would a throwing stick look like to us, if we
found one on an archaeological dig?
Unfortunately, except under some very rare and
possibly non existing conditions, it could only look
like a bit of wood.
Unless it was one of those extremely rare occurrences
where organic matter is preserved virtually intact, within
the context of a human habitation (hunting/etc), we'd
have no way of knowing something is a throwing stick,
even while staring at it.
We can still search for them though. Indirectly.
Throwing sticks were popular in ancient Egypt! They
can still be found in use today in some cultures. And
we know how to make them. So we can study them
right now, determine the kind of evidence they would
likely leave in their manufacture... the evidence of
their use on animals.
Simply put: What does an animal taken down by a
throwing stick look like?
And by "Animal" I include "Other humans."
Now look at the Macuahuiti.
Significantly more complicated than a throwing stick...
Or is it?
It's very primitive, very effective and we should be able
to study the signs of its use on the archaeological
remains of humans, at least. And we could construct
them today, study the tell-tale signs of their use on
prey.
AND THEN we can look for those signs in paleo times!
So if we did find a Denisovan Macuahuitl what it would
look like to use would be some blades. And maybe not a
lot of them. I mean, why would they throw away an
intact Macuahuitl? One where the wood split from an
impact, one that already got one too many WHACKS out
of it? Sure. They might thrown away something like
that.. But all we'd see is the blades and not necessarily in
any patterns matching the shape of a Macuahuitl. So
we'd be better served looking for the signs of their use
on the remains of animals or even people.
What would a wound from a Macuahuitl look like? Where
would they likely strike? What kind of prey? How might
these wounds differ from other weapons?
SUMMED UP:
But whatever the case, paleo weapons/tools follow a
pattern. Many are found to be still in use in historic times,
relatively unchanged. If we look at primitive people today,
and ancient cultures for whom we have a record of
(historical times) we can find weapons/tools that match the
patterns of paleo objects, and then search for evidence of
their use in paleo times.
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